


ut satus iterum

by JkWriter



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Angst, Drug Abuse, Family Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Self-Hatred, Sorry guys, we don't hate luther in this household
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2019-11-27 11:12:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18193835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JkWriter/pseuds/JkWriter
Summary: they made it back. so now what?





	1. -klaus-

Preventing the apocalypse was starting to be a lot more work than Klaus had signed up for. For one, he was thirteen. Thirteen-year-olds sucked. No one wakes up and goes, “You know what I miss? Being thirteen. Sure wish I could relive that.”, and those were just normal people, not some super-powered freaks who went around stopping crime at the direction of their batshit insane father. Maybe Klaus could have dealt with it if he was one of those normal adults who just so happened to end up in their thirteen-year-old body because of some cursed book or rock they bought in a thrift store, but no, Klaus was unlucky enough to be a washed-up superhero who’s batshit crazy father made him go around stopping crime between torture sessions meant to “help him reach his full potential”. 

At least he wasn’t suffering alone. “If I never see another pool of water in my life it won’t be soon enough,” Diego said as he walked into Luther’s room. Klaus didn’t know how Luther’s room had become their unofficial meeting spot but he didn’t exactly hate it. Unlike the rest of them, Luther’s room was spacious. If Klaus had to guess it probably had something to do with Luther being daddy’s perfect little soldier. Even when they were young Luther refused to betray their father. At least he wasn’t being a dick about the rules these days. 

“Was he testing your breath?” Luther pulled the comforter from his bed and wrapped it around Diego. 

“Yeah, fucking sucks.” Diego sat between Klaus and Ben. 

Ben. That was a thing. Going back in time brought Ben back to life except not really because Ben died when they were nineteen and right now they were just thirteen. Ben was still going to die unless they changed something and Five made it very clear on the first day they couldn’t change anything without his explicit permission. They all thought Five was being an asshole until Klaus found him falling asleep at his desk writing equation after equation to find a way of saving Ben without ripping apart the timeline. It might not be permanent, but having Ben there was nice even though it did take Ben’s consciousness a week to catch up with the rest of them. Time travel didn’t account for the dead who were tagging along. Klaus remembered waking up and then everyone immediately crowding around a confused Ben who just wanted to know what was happening that made everyone so interested in him all of a sudden. Ben spent a week confused by everyone’s secrecy and Vanya’s mini-coma. It wasn’t until Ben crawled into Klaus’ bed at two a.m. crying about dying and watching the brother he cared about drink himself to death that they had the whole team back together.

Sort of. 

The team wasn’t together. It was more like Klaus, Ben, and Diego against Luther and Allison, against Five, and Vanya against herself. There was a distance between them they still hadn’t patched up, one they might never be able to fix, but they were trying. 

They all stared at each other in silence. Luther day with Allison on the bed. Klaus, Diego, and Ben day huddled together on the opposite wall while Vanya squeezed herself into the corner. Five leaned against the doorframe because he wanted to appear cooler than he actually was. Klaus hated the silence. He always has. The silence is when the spirits are the loudest. 

“Do you just swim to the bottom and stay? Or is it like when we were kids and would hold until the ladder to see who could stay under the longest? Which, now that I think about it that was totally unfair none of us would have ever beaten you I would like my five dollars back.” 

“Klaus,” Allison chastised. Diego waved her off. 

“S’f...fine. He m...made m...e hold a cannonball. Where did he even ge...ge...get one?” 

Klaus wasn’t the only one who flinched at Diego’s stutter. At first, it wasn’t that bad. Diego had gotten better and it showed even when they got back but then they had to fall back into the lives they used to live while Five figured out a way to save the world without setting anything off. That meant training, being criticized at every turn, and forbidden from having any sort of fun outside of the predesignated hours. For Klaus it also meant forced sobriety which wasn’t so bad since he didn’t start taking anything until after Five disappeared so there wasn’t any withdrawal to go through but he also knew what drugs were like and how much they could help him like making the annoying lady questioning his reasons for stealing Allison’s skirt in the corner disappear. 

“Where does he get anything?” Luther said. “He could probably pull the French army out of his pocket.” Klaus was liking this new Luther, the one with resentment towards the father who would send him to the moon with no purpose other than hiding him away. The one whose eyes were finally being opened to the pain his family went through because they dared to question what their father was doing to them. Still, it was a strange feeling to agree with him on something. Klaus couldn’t exactly argue Luther’s point, not when he spent the night before locked in a mausoleum they had on the edge of their property. Growing up the first time Klaus was glad Vanya was ordinary, she wouldn’t have been able to handle training like the rest of them. Even now he’s glad their father thinks they think she’s ordinary. Klaus didn’t want her submitted to any kind of training or being locked away for something out of her control. 

“I never liked the training,” Allison said and shit, Klaus had to agree. The training fucking sucked. What kind of sick bastard locked his child in a mausoleum or made their stay underwater for hours on end? What kind of father forced his daughter to manipulate her family and forced his son to work out to the point of tears? The closest they got to opening up was disclosing their training. Five said it would help everyone to understand each other better but it just made Klaus pity the man that turned his children against him without even actively trying to. Luther was forced to lift anything and everything, Diego to hold his breath longer and longer with each missed throw, Allison to rumor her siblings, Klaus was locked in the mausoleum with all sorts of spooky ghosts, Five to jump from locked room to locked room in the correct order to get out, Ben to use the monsters he despised, and Vanya to practice what would become her most deadly weapon while berating her for being ordinary and turning her family against her until one day she snaps and ruins their relationships forever. 

Jesus Christ, Klaus thought, they were a regular fucking Brady Bunch. 

Everyone fell silent against as they remembered their own traumas. Klaus thought it was hilarious in a macabre way. Only Reginald Hargreeves could traumatize his children to the point that their only bonding moments came from remembering what they had gone through. 

“Well,” Klaus said clapping his hands together. “if no one else has anything to add to this horribly depressing and traumatic experience, I do believe it’s about time we get this Hargreeves family meeting going!” Earlier in the week, Five gave Klaus the official title of “Meeting Starter”. Klaus liked to believe it was because of his charm but Ben said it was more likely because of the way he could command attention. Either way was fine with Klaus. “Five, the floor is yours.” 

Five pushed off of the doorframe and strode into the center of the room. He made the whole movement look cool like it belonged in a movie. Klaus thought it wasn’t fair. Five a week head-start on the whole “being thirteen” again thing. 

“Right, this fucking sucks.” Five said, spinning so he could catch everyone’s eye. “I think we can all agree on that.” Klaus caught Ben’s eye behind Diego and shrugged. “The problem is Dad is starting to see that something is wrong. We’re all too distant from him. I know we all have our own reasons for disliking him, but I’ve done the math and Dad finding out has a seventy-eight percent chance of getting all of us locked up in solitary confinement.” Everyone’s eyes flickered over the Vanya. She curled up further into herself, clutching the bottle of medication Pogo had pressed into her hands that morning. She was always shaking, always looking over her shoulder and taking her medication at the slightest breeze. Klaus and Ben were worried because they were starting to see too much of Klaus in her. “Since he’s starting to realize something is amiss,” Five began, pulling the attention away from Vanya. “We need to act normal. Not adult normal, but thirteen-year-old normal. We never tolerated each other like this. If we’re going to save the world we need to play the part.” 

“What do you mean "play the part"?” 

“He means,” Vanya whispered. She hid her eyes. “You guys need to start ignoring me again.” 

Vanya’s words echoed around them. They were silent, staring at the little sister, and then all hell broke loose. 

“Ignore you?” Allison cried. “Hell no!” Diego yelled over Luther’s surprised shouts. Klaus and Ben were the only ones who didn’t join in on the yell at Five and Vanya fest. The two of them already knew they had to change something to keep Dear Old Daddy from realizing something was up and it made the most sense that this was the direction they’d have to go. Their little alliances were already formed as children. Whatever new relationships they started building were a testament to what they had gone through as adults. 

“Alright, that’s enough!” Five said over the shouting. “Do you think I want to do this? No, but I’m trying to save this family and right now that means doing things we don’t like.” 

“We can’t just ignore her,” Allison said at the same time as Diego’s “Well fuck that.” The two shared a knowing look and Klaus hoped that meant their walls were starting to break down. Klaus really wanted that to be the case, he thought they worked better as a team than alone. 

“We have to,” Vanya said. She was no longer hiding her face giving Klaus the opportunity to really look at her. Did she always look this tired and worn out or was that a new addition with discovering she had the ability to destroy the world? Were her eyes always this sad? Did she always pick at the skin around her nails? “Five’s right. If suddenly started caring then Dad’s gonna know something’s wrong and I don’t, I can’t go down there again. Please don’t make me go down there again.” 

Klaus didn’t know Vanya. He never bothered talking to her because she was ordinary and they were extraordinary. He didn’t know her favorite color or music. He didn’t know if she sang in the shower or read books in the bath. Klaus didn’t know anything about her and it broke his heart. Vanya was more than her violin, more than the book she would write and the powers she couldn’t access. Vanya was special and selfless. She was ready to give up her childhood a second time around to try and save the world that didn’t bother giving her the time of day.

“No.” 

“No?” Five questioned. 

“No,” Luther repeated. “We aren’t going to pretend Vanya’s not there and everything is fine. We...I might have messed up the first time, but I’m going to do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Good for Luther, Klaus thought. “We can figure something out, some explanation for why we’re together, but we’re not ignoring her, not again.” 

Five gets the look on his face that means he’s either thinking of a way to insult them or actually considering what Luther had to say. “Hmm. I don’t wish to go back to that either. Perhaps we can ease ourselves back into the role of the Umbrella Academy. It’s just a matter of what we can and can’t do. Maybe...No. that’s stupid. He’d see right through that.” Klaus could see why Five fell in love with a mannequin in the future, talking to no one made him see a bit crazy. “That could work? If we get it right.” This must be what Klaus looks like talking to spirits. No wonder everyone thought he was insane. “Luther is right. We can’t pretend everything’s okay. He’s already noticed something is wrong and if we start pretending now it will look even more suspicious. Vanya,” Vanya jumped on hearing her name. “You’re the most important piece of this puzzle. He doesn’t expect anything from you and we’re going to take advantage of that.” 

“I doubt I’m going to be much help.” 

“Nonsense,” Five said over Diego’s “Shut up you’ve helped us plenty of times.” over Allison’s “Don’t say that, Vanya.” over Luther’s “You kept us grounded.” Klaus wondered if they rehearsed the ability to talk over each other or if it just sort of happened with time travel. 

Klaus wanted to point out their weird obsession with talking over each other but instead, he said: “You are Dear Old Daddies can do no wrong favorite child.” Ben sighed, probably because Klaus had explained this to him before. Growing up Vanya was never chastised for stepping out of line like the rest of them. She was never punished for not practicing or practicing too loud. The only ones who had a problem with her playing were the other children, something Klaus pointed out. “She killed like what,” Klaus counted the dead women surrounding Vanya. He used to wonder why they were there but now it made sense. “Six nannies? All Dad did was build mom. She complained about being bored so he put her in violin lessons. Sure, he always told her she was ordinary and that hecking sucks but he criticized us for not being extraordinary enough.” 

Was bringing this up a good idea? Probably not. Vanya looked like she wanted to cry while Diego went stiff beside him. Allison was glaring daggers at Klaus and if looks could kill he would be six feet under. The only one who seemed unbothered by his words were Five. His face morphed from confusion into something akin to understanding. 

“Klaus,” Five said dropping down next to Vanya. “You might be a genius.” Everyone was staring at Five and Vanya. Five took Vanya’s hands, pulling the medication from her grip. “I know what we need to do.”


	2. -klaus-

Turns out, Five didn’t have a plan, or at least not a good one.

“You want me to what?” 

“Stop taking them.” Five stood back up, pulling Vanya with him. “Think about it, Dad wasn’t able to train you so instead he took away everything that made you apart of us. He drugged you into submission, made you who you are because he couldn’t control you.” 

“Five,” Allison warned. 

“Calm down,” he said, craning his head back to look at her. “I’m not done.” Five turned back to Vanya. “My point is, he tried to control you, so we’re going to break you free.” 

“By taking away my pills?” To be honest, Klaus expected Vanya to flush the medication the second they woke up. It dulled her senses, took away the power she held, but she clung to it after waking. Maybe it was the watchful eye of their father or the guilt of starting the apocalypse or even the fear of what she could do, but Vanya hadn’t dropped the drugs. 

“Yes. I don’t want to sound cliche, but if this is going to work you need a better understanding of your powers, we all do. By a show of hands, who knew Klaus could manifest spirits?” No one raised their hands, not even Klaus or Ben. “My point exactly, we need to-“

“Wait wait wait,” Vanya said, waving her hands and interrupting Five. “Klaus can do what?” 

She must have not seen it while in the middle of her “white violin” thing and trying to destroy the world. It must be hard to get distracted from something like that. “Yeah!” Klaus exclaimed. “I started glowing blue and stuff, and then Ben showed up and did his weird hentai thing killing all the dudes who were trying to kill us cause we were trying to stop you. It was great.” Klaus said all of this while giving a horribly inaccurate depiction of Ben’s tentacles while waving his arms around in the air. Ben hit Klaus in the arm but it didn’t hurt, there was no real aim to injure behind it. It just made Klaus laugh even more. 

“Oh.” 

“Hey, it’s chill, I mean we lived, didn't we?” 

“Yeah, but they were trying to kill you.” 

“You can’t blame yourself for that, Vanya,” Allison said softly. Vanya shook her head.

“But it is my fault. They were trying to kill you because of me.” 

“Hush. They’ve been trying to kill me since I first jumped into the apocalypse.” 

“The apocalypse which I created.” 

Klaus recognized that tone. That was the “Vanya is shutting down” tone. It’s the one that kept popping back up since they traveled back. Klaus hated that tone. It meant the family meeting was going to end while Allison and Five tried to pull Vanya out of her own head and they’d have to start over again next week. They hadn’t even accomplished anything except come to the agreement they wouldn’t ignore Vanya. They still had to figure out how to act normal and what Five was going to do about Vanya’s medication. 

“Even if it was a perfectly normal future,” Five said taking Vanya’s hand. Klaus wondered how teasing Five about his obvious crush would go. Not well, he imagined. “They still would have come after me. The Commission doesn’t like people like me.” 

“Didn’t they hire you? To kill people?” Ben asked. “Like Hazel and Cha Cha.” 

“That’s because I was too good of an asset to execute. I have the ability to jump through time without the assistance of their suitcases. However, they are smart. There’s a reason they waited so long to first approach me. By the time they finally made their appearance I was already willing to do whatever it took to leave that wasteland. They knew my abilities, knew what I could do. They knew what you could do. It’s why they sent Hazel and Cha Cha. They’re two of the Commission’s best agents. But that’s beside the point. The point is, what happened was not your fault. Dad was the one who did this to you.” 

“Still feels like my fault,” Vanya mumbled. 

“What happened then is in the past. We don’t need to worry about that anymore. Right now we need to focus on the future and that means getting a better understanding of our abilities without Dad or Pogo finding out.” 

“What about Mom?” 

Five thought about Diego’s question. “Mom should be fine. She’s programmed to protect us, even if it goes against Dad’s orders. If it comes down to it I could find a way to alter the programming the keep her from bringing anything up with him altogether.” 

“Are you saying we need to use Mom to protect us from Dad?” 

“I’m not saying use her, but if she already has the programming then we should take advantage of it. Mom is his biggest asset. Without her, who is he? An old guy with seven super-powered children who aren’t exactly on his side anymore.” 

“I don’t like it. I don’t want Mom to get hurt.” 

“If it will make you feel better we could start by changing her programming. I just need to find out what exactly when into making Mom. Dad must have those records somewhere.” 

“Dad keeps all of his records in his office. I might be able to get in and poke around.” Luther’s plan was good. Dad trusted Luther. Dad liked Luther. Dad didn’t like Luther enough to not send him to the Moon, but Dad liked Luther enough that Luther poking around the office wouldn’t be too strange and if Luther could find the right files then Five could pull the Dad out of Mom. 

“Good. That’s good. Let me know what you find.” Five looked to Klaus, Diego, and Ben. Klaus waved. “Everyone needs to act normal until we can figure out where to go next. I do want us to start training on our own terms and not Dad’s. Meet back here on Saturday night?” 

“Yeah, yeah that works.” Allison stood up and stretched. Luther followed suit. “Should we do anything else until then?” 

“Don’t let Dad know something’s happening. If he asks, send him to Allison. Allison, I know you hate using it on family, but you might need to rumor him to keep suspicions down.” 

“Oh, believe me, I will enjoy it.” 

“Right. Vanya, come with me.” Five took Vanya’s hand. “The rest of you, good luck.” Five jumped himself and Vanya from the room leaving the other five to awkwardly stare at each other until Diego pushed himself up. 

“I’m out.” Diego threw the blanket back onto Luther’s bed. “I’m going to go find Mom.” 

“Don’t tell her anything until Five has a chance to check on her programming.”

“Whatever,” Diego said but Klaus knew he wouldn’t defy Luther. Diego wasn’t the type to risk everything, even if it was Mom. He’d listen for now. 

“Well,” Klaus stood up. “as fun as this has been, Ben and I have not-ghost things to do. We have so much to catch up on now that he’s alive again!” He clapped his hands together. Ben followed him into standing. 

“Klaus,” Allison said. “Are you okay?” 

“Are you worried about little old me? Awe, that’s so sweet.”

“Klaus.” 

“Relax, Allie. I’m fine. A-okay. Okie Dokie.” She didn’t look convinced. In fact, no one looked convinced. Luther was watching Klaus’ with more concern than he had ever seen from his eyes, Ben just looked sad, and Allison was frowning. Klaus took a deep breath and smiled. “Really, I’m okay. Haven’t used anything. I mean, sure, I want to. I want to be numb, forget that there are ghosts following me around, but I don’t want to mess up again. This me, the kid me, hasn’t gone through an overdose or rehab and I don’t want him, me to.” 

“You’ll let us know if you need help?” 

Would he? Maybe. Klaus didn’t go out of his way to defy his siblings and make them worry. He didn’t want them to worry which is exactly what they were doing the longer he was silent. “Yeah, yeah I think I will.” And he meant it. As fucked as the situation was, it was Klaus’ way of starting over, something he had dreamed about for years. “Well, my dudes, Bentacles and I have a date with cuddles that’s long overdue.” 

Klaus dragged Ben, as gently as he could, out of Luther’s room and down the hall to his own. He let go of Ben at the door, giving his brother the chance to walk away, but Ben followed Klaus inside. “You sure you’re alright?” Ben asked once they were sitting on Klaus’ bed, backs against the wall and legs stretched out over the side. 

“I mean, kind of? I wasn’t lying, I haven’t taken anything.” 

“I believe you. You’ve always been different sober. Your aura is cleaner.” 

Klaus grinned. “You hiding secondary abilities?” 

“No, not that. I don’t know. I’ve always been able to read you and spending the last ten years with you helped that. I felt like I had to look after you, ya know? Since you obviously couldn’t do it yourself, no offense.”

“Ouch, is that mockery I hear?” 

“Ah yes, I care about your well-being. I must be mocking you.”

“Truly, the only answer.” 

Ben bumped his shoulder against Klaus. “Shut it, now. I have ten years worth of blackmail material.” 

Klaus gasped and threw his hand over his heart. “My Dearest Ben, you wouldn’t dare!” 

“Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t. Who knows? I did get ten years of behind the scenes character development. Gotta say it’s been kind of funny seeing everyone’s reactions to the new me.” 

“That’s because they remember you being scared of your own shadow.” 

“Dying changes you.” 

“I know.” Klaus had seen hundreds of people warped by their own mortality. For a while, he was worried Ben would become another spirit lost to the world but his brother held on. “Makes some people look hideous.” 

“Oh my god,” Ben laughed. “Shut up and appreciate the moment.”

“I don’t appreciate moments, I ruin them.” 

“Trust me, I know.”

They both fell silent. Klaus stared at a spirit huddled in the corner which was yet to approach him. Maybe they didn’t care or maybe they hadn’t yet realized what Klaus could do. Klaus didn’t care, either way, he was just happy there was silence. These moments, without drugs, were rare and he was going to live in it as long as he could. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah,” Klaus said. “Just appreciating the moment.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not a huge fan of this chapter but it had to be done for me to move on 
> 
> i have a [discord](https://discord.gg/Pwah8sR) come join the nothingness

**Author's Note:**

> writing klaus is my favorite 
> 
> i have a [discord](https://discord.gg/Pwah8sR), come join me and my very few friends to talk about musicals, tv, movies, and really whatever you'd like (also includes writing, art and music pls join im lonely) 
> 
> also can i just say i don't hate luther


End file.
